Germany Changes Mind Again, Will Sell Major Stake in Top Port to China Government Owned Shipping Giant

China is to acquire a major stake in a container terminal in Hamburg, one of the most important ports in Europe, despite a last-minute intervention by regulators who questioned the wisdom of the deal.

China’s shipping giant Cosco is to acquire a 24.9 per cent share — down from 35 per cent in the original bid of 2021 — in the Hamburg Tollerort container terminal, one of four terminals that make up the Port of Hamburg, after a German government spokesman said the had decided the deal could go ahead.

The purchase by the Chinese state-owned company had been initially approved by the left-wing German government of Olaf Scholz, who was reported to have personally intervened to push it through in the opposition of some in government who warned selling critical national infrastructure to China could be a bad idea. Yet an investigation into Cosco buying a near-quarter of Tollerort put the idea on ice earlier this year over “national security concerns” after it found the port had not been placed on the government register of critical infrastructure.

But now the purchase is back on again, and according to Politico, it is thanks once again to the Scholz who they say “was strongly pushing for the 24.99 percent deal to remain valid” in October. The publication cites critics who claim: “partial port acquisition is part of a targeted investment strategy through which Beijing wants to bring infrastructure throughout Europe under its influence.”

The Port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe, a major point of ingress for manufactured goods from countries like China. It is the 19th largest port in the world, one of only a handful in that list which aren’t in Asia.

Port Technology News reports of the anticipated impact of the purchase: “This development is expected to concentrate the flow of goods between Asia and Europe, which is significant considering China’s status as Germany’s and the Port of Hamburg’s primary trading partner. Approximately 30 per cent of the goods handled at the Port of Hamburg are either from China or destined for the country.”